Methods
by SlytherLynn
Summary: In the Slytherin dorm, everyone has methods. Elizabeth knows this. There are methods of coping, social methods, and methods of keeping people in line. Not all of them work, but the ones that do can be frightening.


**Just a short one-shot that I thought up. It's kind of sad, but I love trying to get into the mind of Slytherins. And if anyone was wondering, on the Harry Potter Classlist, there is someone with the last name Runcorn. I filled in the blanks. Enjoy!**  
**~SlytherLynn**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hogwarts or any Harry Potter characters.**

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A scream could be heard, echoing throughout the dungeons. Elizabeth Runcorn shivered and clutched the emerald green covers closer to her petite body.

The detentions were going extremely late tonight. It was always the method that the Carrows used to torture the fight out of the D.A. They probably thought the longer the torture, the more the message sinks in.

They were wrong.

What the Carrows didn't realize was that detentions made the D.A. even more rebellious. It was only a matter of time before Longbottom and Weasley would have to hide, or they would be tortured into insanity.

Elizabeth didn't care about the D.A. She regarded them as foolish. Did they not realize that if the Dark Lord had time to deal with their pathetic little rebellion, he could very well kill them all in a matter of minutes? The D.A. had no sense of self-preservation. She sometimes wished that they did. Maybe then the screams would stop. Maybe then the dungeons would be quiet.

She looked angrily at the walls of the dorm room. Elizabeth had always hated living in the dungeons. It was always cold and damp, and Elizabeth was sure that she had a permanent chill in her bones. There were no windows to let in sunlight. The only windows were ones in the common room that allowed you to see into the Black Lake, which was sometimes an unnerving sight.

Elizabeth heard another faint scream creep through the stone walls. She sat up and rested her back against the headboard of her bed. There was no possible way she would be able to fall asleep as long as there were still detentions going on.

She glanced around her dormitory. It was illuminated with a green glow from a candle she kept by her bed. It let off just enough light for her to be able to make out the occupants of the room.

She saw two figures sitting on Millicent Bulstrode's bed. One was obviously Millicent; the one that was shaking with silent sobs. Daphne Greengrass had her arm around Millicent's shoulders in an attempt to comfort her.

It was hard for Elizabeth to see Millicent crying. Millie had always been the tough one. She was the girl that was more likely to throw a punch then bother taking out her wand to curse you. She would rather be tortured than to admit to anyone that she actually cried.

Elizabeth hoped that she wasn't crying because of the break-up. Tonight in the common room, Millie had ended the almost two-year relationship she had with Gregory Goyle because he would not stop torturing fellow students during detentions. It seemed to throw him off slightly, but he continued to the detentions anyway.

_Millie deserves better_, Elizabeth thought bitterly. She had been quite surprised that Millicent had managed to hold in her tears as long as she did.

Slytherins shouldn't cry in front of others.

Ever.

It was one of the methods of being a Slytherin.

"Hush," Daphne whispered gently, "Calm down, Millie. He's not worth your tears."

Elizabeth's thoughts switched to Daphne. She remembered a time when the blonde used to always smile. Daphne was the happy one. She _thrived_ on happiness. She had always scolded Pansy for being so sour.

This new Daphne scared Elizabeth. _This_ Daphne was sad most of the time. Elizabeth supposed it was a method of expressing her thoughts on the war. She was sad that the conflict seemed to be ignored by most Slytherins. But they had to. It was how they survived.

"It's not just him, Daph," Millicent choked out, "It's everything. Greg's completely changed. Tracey's gone. Liz hasn't spoken since she returned from break. And Pansy is just cruel."

Tears threatened to come from her eyes as Elizabeth hugged her knees to her chest. She knew it was true. Keeping all of her thoughts and feelings bottled up inside was her method of coping with all the bad things that were happening.

It didn't work.

The screams were getting weaker now. The Carrows were about to move on to their next victim, Elizabeth decided.

She turned her tired eyes to the empty bed. The covers were neatly done and it was almost as if no one had ever slept there. The Carrows wanted to cover up Tracey's absence, but the void she left she left was too big to ignore.

Tracey Davis had always been the rebel. In the early years, Tracey had been the only one of them who refused to be a part of Pansy's clique. She accepted the rest of the girls as time went on, but Tracey and Pansy rarely got along.

Tracey's views had been different too. She didn't care about muggles and she didn't care whether a magical person was muggle-born or not. In fact, she was quite infuriated that some of the muggle-borns (Tracey had loathed the word mudblood) had to go into hiding. Elizabeth remembered her exact words, _"It's not right, Lizzie. Why should those who are magically gifted be punished for it? They can't help it! And I bet a good lot of them are better than the Carrows will ever be!"_

Pansy had wanted to turn Tracey in for the comment, but after a few threats from herself and Theodore Nott, Pansy angrily restrained herself. When Pansy caught word that Tracey had been giving information to the D.A., her method of helping in the struggle, Tracey had decided it was time to go into hiding. She had never come back after the holidays. Elizabeth could only hope that she was somewhere safe.

The screams changed tone. Elizabeth was pretty sure it was a boy this time. It was probably one of the Gryffindor boys. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Pansy shift in her sleep.

Pansy. Yet another girl who had changed. In their first few years she had been stubborn and greedy, but a good friend and a great leader for the girls. Now she was totally different. Her methods had changed.

She was outright vile.

Pansy acted like she was better than everyone else in the entire school, except for Draco, whom she fawned over. Elizabeth knew that Pansy was all for the Dark Lord's plans. She thought the horrible wizard was perfect.

And frankly, it revolted Elizabeth.

An extremely loud scream jolted Elizabeth out of her thoughts. She looked towards Millicent, who whimpered slightly. "I'm scared," she whispered, as though the words themselves would attack her. Daphne nodded and looked towards Elizabeth, hoping for some reassurance.

Elizabeth looked around the room. There was Pansy's sleeping form, staying oblivious to the torture going on a few rooms away. There was a crying Millicent, an unhappy Daphne, and lastly, there was Tracey's empty bed.

"Me, too," she whispered, her voice gravely from non-use.

The three Slytherin girls listened to the screams solemnly.

"Why must they do detention in the dungeon?" Daphne asked quietly.

Elizabeth knew the answer, but didn't respond.

It was another method. A method to keep Slytherin's in line. The Carrows wanted the school to think that all of Slytherin House backed the Dark Lord. They figured that listening to the other students being put through extreme pain would make any non-Death Eaters too afraid to act out. Elizabeth had realized this method early in the year.

The scariest part of this method?

It worked.

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**Please review! I would love some constructive things if you would like to write some. :)**  
**~SL**


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